Chapter 3 - THE SECOND PHONE
Victor returned to Blackwood Mansion before sunrise.
Lily stayed at the hospital with Ethan under armed protection.
Serena was waiting in the drawing room.
She had changed clothes.
Her makeup was perfect.
Her hair had been fixed.
She looked as though the night had never happened.
Victor entered carrying Serena’s second phone.
The color disappeared from her face.
“Where did you get that?”
Victor placed it on the table.
“Interesting question.”
Serena recovered quickly.
“That isn’t mine.”
“It was under your mattress.”
“Someone planted it.”
“Who?”
“Lily.”
Victor almost smiled.
Not because anything was funny.
Because Serena had become predictable.
“She was at the hospital when it was found.”
Serena crossed her arms.
“She could have put it there earlier.”
Victor sat down.
“Why would she?”
“To destroy us.”
“There is no us right now.”
Serena’s confidence cracked.
“Victor.”
He slid the phone across the table.
“Unlock it.”
“I don’t know the code.”
Victor nodded toward Cole.
Cole entered with a technician.
“We already did.”
Serena stopped breathing for a moment.
The technician opened the messages.
Most had been deleted.
But fragments remained.
Payments.
Meeting locations.
Instructions.
One contact appeared repeatedly under a single letter.
M.
Victor read one recovered message.
AFTER THE WEDDING, CONTROL PASSES THROUGH THE CHILD.
Another followed.
IF VICTOR WON’T SIGN, WE USE ETHAN.
Serena lunged for the phone.
Cole caught her wrist.
“Let go of me.”
Victor remained seated.
“Who is M?”
“I don’t know.”
“Wrong answer.”
“I told you that phone isn’t mine.”
Victor stood.
Serena stepped backward.
He stopped several feet from her.
He never touched her.
He did not need to.
“You were hurting my son.”
“I was trying to protect him.”
“From Lily?”
“Yes.”
Victor stared at her.
“She has been manipulating Ethan.”
“She wants your money.”
“She wants your house.”
“She wants to replace me.”
Victor’s expression did not change.
Serena became desperate.
“Ask yourself why your son calls her Mommy.”
Victor’s eyes flickered.
Serena saw it.
And attacked the weakness immediately.
“She encouraged it.”
“She wants you to believe she’s devoted to him.”
“She wants you emotionally dependent on her.”
Victor turned away.
For one second, Serena believed she had reached him.
Then he spoke.
“My son calls Lily when he’s afraid.”
Serena went silent.
“He called for her with his shoulder dislocated.”
Victor looked back at her.
“He didn’t call for you.”
Serena’s mouth tightened.
A phone rang.
Cole answered.
His face changed.
“Boss.”
Victor turned.
“The hospital.”
Victor grabbed the phone.
A guard spoke urgently.
“Someone tried to enter Ethan’s room.”
Victor’s blood went cold.
“Who?”
“Man wearing hospital maintenance clothes.”
“Where is he?”
“He ran.”
“Lily?”
“She stopped him from reaching Ethan.”
Victor closed his eyes for half a second.
“Lock the floor.”
He turned toward Cole.
“Car.”
Serena stepped after him.
“Victor.”
He stopped at the doorway.
Her voice softened.
“You still need me.”
Victor looked over his shoulder.
“For what?”
Serena’s face changed.
The fear disappeared.
Something colder replaced it.
“Because you have no idea who M is.”
Victor waited.
May you like
Serena smiled.
“And when you find out, you’re going to wish this was only about me.”
